Sunday, August 21, 2011

Social Misery Rising - Riots and Crime Wave in the UK

As reported in the "telegraph"

The full extent of the crimewave which affected London during this month’s riots has been revealed by the Metropolitan Police, with more than 3,000 individual crimes recorded over four days.

Scotland Yard disclosed there had been 3,296 offences linked to three nights of disturbances in the capital, including 162 arsons, 1,149 burglaries of homes and other premises.

Police received reports of 48 serious woundings, 32 common assaults, 412 robberies and 49 other violent crimes.

There were more than 1,100 burglaries of retail and commercial premises, and 48 reports of house-breaking.

Just under 70 homes were subjected to criminal damage, 400 vehicles were damaged and 10 were stolen.

There are also two investigations underway into the deaths of Richard Bowes, who was allegedly punched to the ground in Ealing, west London, and Trevor Ellis, who was shot dead in Croydon.


Monday, August 8, 2011

London riots, rural theft, and insurance co reported 20% increase in crime reports


This newspaper report shows a rise in property crime claims of 20%. Interestingly, these are crimes of electronics and transferable goods, not theft of food or life support materials.

The Daily Telegraph printed, "Britain’s biggest rural insurer reports that a sharp increase in crime is also blighting the countryside.... NFU Mutual – formerly the National Farmers’ Union financial arm – says claims for theft jumped by nearly 20pc last year to a total of £50m. But this analysis of policyholders’ claims reveals something more interesting than an equality of misery between rural and urban lawlessness."

The NFU Mutual Rural Crime Survey also "reports that the most popular targets for rural thieves were not livestock or crops but chainsaws, electric drills and lawnmowers."